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How Claire Buchy-Anderson became the professional huntsman for SantaYnezValleyHounds inCentral California is the stuff of contemporary fction. French woman comes to the USA, meets Chip Anderson, huntsman at Tryon for 15 years. They fall in love, do some globetrotting, get married. Chip takes a job offer to hunt hounds in California, but old injuries force a life-changing surgery to fuse several vertebrae. Claire steps up to the plate and contacts the senior master at Santa Ynez Valley Hounds. Three years later, Claire is knocking the ball out of the park, sport-wise. It’s win-win all the way for this husband-wife team.

CB-A: When I started hunting hounds three years ago – I was thrown in as huntsman! To be very honest, I met my husband fve years ago and I had never hunted anything before we met. I knew nothing. My husband had been a hunter for a long time and he taught me. When I understood the way hunting works and how beautiful it is, I started to love it. He was hired to be the huntsman here at Santa Ynez Valley, but then he had surgery and couldn’t do it. So I spoke to Steve Lyons and said, ‘I never hunted hounds, but Chip can teach me. If you want to give me the chance, we can try one year and see how it works.’

It’s like everything falls together into place. I’ve been with horses the frst part of my life, breeding dogs the second part, and now it’s like I’m in the third part and I have combined the horses and dogs, and I have always loved nature. I just love hunting hounds.

CA: They [hounds and humans] love Claire and she’s really good. Claire’s ability with the hounds and the way she handles them is interesting, so different.

hunting hounds. I read as many books as I could fnd. The frst season, I had no clue what I was doing, really. Chip helped me by being on the quad and talking on the radio, and everybody was very supportive. The frst season was not great, but it worked. The second season was even better, the third season - this season - has been breaking records on the game. We hunt wild boar and coyote.

CB-A: When I frst came here the hounds were not working for me. It was very frustrating to have hounds that would not hunt. So I had to build the team and that’s a challenge. My pack is still not perfect, but it’s so much better.

CA: Well, I’m always right (laughs). In September last year, we were on this big ridge and a coyote had crossed the road. I was trying to assess things, and I saw Claire come out with the hounds. I said to myself, she’s making a big mistake here: the coyote would defnitely have gone right, it would not have crossed this road. But I don’t interfere: we let her learn her own lessons. I watched Claire go over the hill and the hounds blasted across the hill and here comes the coyote, with hounds almost right on its tail. You know, I hate when my wife is right!

CB-A: Absolutely! Chip has an incredible knowledge of foxhunting, hounds and hunting, so I am taking what I like from his knowledge. I never bred hounds, but I bred dogs for almost 20 years, so I have a strong background. He’s the kindest man on earth and has that pure soul. We have so many things in common.

CA: It’s the second for Claire, my frst. I couldn’t picture a better deal than being married to Claire, a woman who rides a horse, who knows about hounds, and hunts wild boar. We work together in terms of the breeding program. Claire bred champion show dogs. How many times could I ever fnd a woman I like and go out to lunch and spend three hours discussing hound breeding? I mean, come on: how could it be any better?